The Warrens

11

This chapter is dedicated to TormentaAgridulce because she messaged me and it made me smile. She's adorable. So I made a surprise update. By the way, we're getting to the scary stuff so you've been warned. I don't want to make any trigger warnings because it would probably spoil stuff, but it is going to get graphic through these upcoming chapters. Leggo.

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Dark circles have formed under my eyes, but I'm not surprised because I can't sleep anymore with the baby always kicking me. I am due any day now. We have a room dedicated to the baby. It is filled with gender-neutral colors. We decided to make a little jungle room for them. Tigers, elephants, and zebras line the walls.

I'm getting ready for the day. I've showered and have gotten dressed. All I need to do is my hair.

I want to straighten it. I plug in the straightener and wait for it to heat up.

Soon the straightener is proven hot by seeing a little red light flash on.

I take the hair tool and bring it to my hair. I straighten a section.

My wrists start to itch.

Before I know what I'm doing, my hair straightener is on my wrist, creating a mark that will probably last forever. The pain zaps me back to reality and I unplug the straightener before turning the water on and running it over my wrist. The water helps relieve the pain.

I decide that I'm just going to wear my hair up today. No more chances of burning myself.

I head back to our room and make sure that I am wearing long sleeves to cover it up. Right now, it is a red color but I know the red will turn to pink and then a darker brown spot.

I've told Ed that he can work on the case. He decided to check out the case. but he promised himself that he wouldn't get involved. I told him he could if he wanted to, but he insisted.

What I haven't told Ed is that I've been in labor for the past five hours. There was really no need to because it can last up to a day. The pain keeps getting worse, but it's nothing that I can't handle.

I place my hand on my stomach. I did not want to do this today, if I'm being honest. Of course, it's not like I have an option, but I'm so tired and all I want to do is sleep. I decide to get in bed and curl up as best as I can with all my blankets and pillows. I fall into a dreamless sleep.

When I wake up, It's dark outside, meaning that I had slept the whole day. But that's not what woke me up. The excruciating pain did.

"Ed!" I call out and he rushes to my aid.

"I need to get to the hospital; I'm in labor," I tell him and he jumps into action.

I tell Judy and her grandmother that we're leaving and she makes me promise that I'll call her with hourly updates. Ed packs a bag that we can use for the next few nights. Should we have done this a while back? Yes, we should have.

Soon, we are in the car waving goodbye.

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The next hour is filled with Ed filling out paperwork while the nurse gets me a room and helps me change into a hospital gown. The nurse asks if I want anything to drink and I politely ask for some water. The nurse also checks to see how many centimeters I am and luckily I'm already six. The baby is coming fast.

"What happened?" Ed snaps me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I ask and he points to my wrist.

I had forgot that it was visible now due to me changing. I self consciously wrap my blanket around myself so he can't see.

He sighs but he lets it go.

I squeeze my hand when I'm in pain. It helps a little but it doesn't stop the fact that it feels like I'm being burned alive.

The time finally comes. I am ten centimeters and I can push on my next contraction.

Two hours later, I am finally getting to meet my precious little boy. I've waited for nine months and I'm finally getting to hold him. He weighs six pounds and if I'm being honest, I can't remember how many inches he is because I'm staring at him in awe at how perfect he looks. I know Ed agrees because he's crying as well. I hold him for a few more minutes before letting Ed hold him.

 A wave of sleep sweeps over me and I let Ed know that I'm gonna get some rest.

Welcome to the world, Theodore Warren.